Puppets of all sorts were key to our Purim experience in third grade! The students loved acting out the story of Purim as Readers’ Theater in Hebrew for each other using the many puppets of the major and minor characters of the Purim story. Additionally, there was great scenery of the different chambers of King Ahasaverus’ palace and the homes of Mordecai and Haman.
The students described the Purim costumes of the Tal Am students practicing descriptive Hebrew vocabulary of clothing and Purim mitzvot and customs. They then got to make a puppet dressed in the animal costume that connected in some way to the personality of the virtual student. Our third graders did a great job figuring out why each of these imaginary figures dressed in that particular animal!
Our yearlong holiday collage project continues with the students making a collage for Purim. Each of the collages will be part of a third grade JS keepsake. At the end of the project, the students will have a chance to develop their own holiday.
And when Purim was over, we didn’t skip a beat immediately getting involved with our Passover learning. The third grade theme for Passover is slavery vs. freedom. We are using a Haggadah in which each step of the Seder and each Passover symbol is described as reminding us of either slavery or freedom. The students have been thoroughly engaged in a project of their choice that incorporates this Passover theme. The projects include, a three dimensional cardboard model, a clay pyramid, a cartoon, a book, and a poster collage.
Our other Passover theme is based on the idea from the Haggadah that each of us in every generation is supposed to see ourselves as if we left Egypt. This isn’t so easy to do as we live free lives here in America, but an important one so that we never take our freedom for granted! The students enjoyed singing a song about this directive and had fun making a profile of themselves as if they were a slave.
